Mobile device communication access and hands-free device activation

ABSTRACT

Apparatuses, systems, and methods are provided for analyzing an incoming telephonic event (e.g., call, message, and/or notification) to a mobile device during operation of a vehicle in relation to a combination of factors to determine if the incoming telephonic event is to be allowed to be received during vehicle operation. The mobile device associated with a driver of the vehicle may receive the incoming telephonic event during operation of the vehicle. An incoming telephonic event analysis application operating on the mobile device may apply a soft block preventing the incoming telephonic event from being displayed on the mobile device. Based on the incoming telephonic event data, vehicle operational data, user preferences, hands-free device activation, and driver and road ratings, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determine whether or not to maintain the soft block or allow the incoming telephonic event to be displayed on the mobile device during operation of the vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/564,524entitled, “Calculation and Utilization of a Driving Score,” and U.S.application Ser. No. 15/052,291 entitled, “Risk Maps.” Both of theseapplications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

Aspects described herein generally relate to one or more computersystems, servers, and/or other devices including hardware and/orsoftware. More specifically, aspects relate to analyzing an incomingtelephonic event (e.g., call, message, and/or notification) to a mobiledevice in relation to a combination of vehicle operational data, userpreferences, and hands-free device activation to determine if theincoming telephonic event is to be permitted to be received (e.g., by auser) during vehicle operation.

BACKGROUND

Distracted driving can lead to motor vehicle accidents, which may resultin injury and, in some cases death. One contributing factor todistracted driving is mobile device interaction, particularly throughtelephone calls, text messages, and social media applications. Whilemobile applications and hands-free devices currently exist which purportpreventing and/or minimizing direct mobile device interaction duringdriving, such mobile applications and hands-free devices are limited bytechnological shortcomings which hinder their effectiveness in reducingdistracted driving in a safe manner.

For example, in regard to mobile applications, such applications are, insome instances, comprehensively restrictive and prevent all incomingcalls, messages, and notifications from being provided to a mobiledevice of a driver until after driving has stopped. Accordingly,emergency calls, messages, and notifications may be prohibited fromreaching the driver in a timely fashion in fitting with an emergencysituation. Moreover, in other instances in which the mobile applicationsrestrict the presentation of incoming calls, messages, and notificationsbased on a velocity of the vehicle as determined through a GPS and/oraccelerometer of the mobile device, the determined velocity readings canbe subverted through restricting GPS privileges of the mobileapplication and/or travelling at a constant speed through vehicle cruisecontrol utilization.

With respect to hands-free devices, in some instances, such devices areconfigured to audibly and/or visually generate all incoming calls,messages, and notifications for the user. However, it has been shownthat the audibilization and/or visualization of content do notsignificantly reduce distracted driving as compared to conventionalmobile device usage. Additionally, in other instances in which onlycertain incoming calls, messages, and notifications are audibly and/orvisually generated for the user, the determination is made based onpre-stored user selections that do not take into consideration criteriasuch as traffic levels, environmental conditions, time of day, type ofroad, and emergency calls, messages, and notifications.

As such, in order to address the technological shortcomings mentionedabove, there may exist a need for applications, apparatuses, and systemswhich analyze an incoming telephonic event to a mobile device inrelation to a combination of vehicle telematics data, user preferences,and hands-free device activation to determine if the incoming telephonicevent is to be presented at the mobile device during vehicle operation.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of various aspects describedherein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intendedto identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope of theclaims. The following summary merely presents some concepts in asimplified form as an introductory prelude to the more detaileddescription provided below.

To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and toovercome other limitations that will be apparent upon reading andunderstanding the present specification, aspects described herein aredirected to methods, apparatuses, and systems configured to analyze anincoming telephonic event in relation to a combination of vehicleoperational data, user preferences, and hands-free device activation todetermine if the incoming telephonic event is to be presented duringvehicle operation.

Some aspects described herein provide for an auto-reply system for amobile device associated with a driver of a vehicle. The mobile devicemay be configured to receive an incoming telephonic event duringoperation of the vehicle. An incoming telephonic event analysisapplication operating on the mobile device may be configured to apply asoft block to the incoming telephonic event and at least temporarilyprevent the event from being displayed on the mobile device. In oneembodiment, after applying the soft block, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may be configured to analyze vehicle operationaldata and user preferences to determine whether or not to remove the softblock and allow the incoming telephonic event to be displayed on themobile device. In another embodiment, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may be configured to analyze a calculated driverscore and a calculated road risk score to determine whether or not toremove the soft block and allow the incoming telephonic event to bedisplayed on the mobile device.

In the event that the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationdetermines not to allow the incoming telephonic event to be displayed onthe mobile device (e.g., to prevent the incoming telephonic event frombeing displayed on the mobile device), the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may be configured to maintain the soft block untiloperation of the vehicle is terminated and to provide an auto-reply tothe provider of the incoming telephonic event that the driver associatedwith the mobile device is unable to respond to the telephonic event. Inthe event that the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationdetermines to permit the incoming telephonic event to be displayed onthe mobile device, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay remove the soft block.

Other aspects described herein provide for a hands-free deviceactivation system including a mobile device associated with a driver ofa vehicle. The mobile device may be configured to launch the incomingtelephonic event analysis application responsive to a user input or anignition event associated with the vehicle of the driver. Afterlaunching, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may beconfigured to instruct the mobile device to sync and/or pair with aproximate hands-free device. During operation of the vehicle, the mobiledevice may receive an incoming telephonic event. The incoming telephonicevent analysis application operating on the mobile device may beconfigured to apply a soft block to the incoming telephonic event and atleast temporarily prevent the event from being displayed on the mobiledevice.

In one embodiment, after applying the soft block, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may be configured to analyzevehicle operational data and user preferences to determine whether ornot to remove the soft block and allow the incoming telephonic event tobe displayed on the mobile device. In another embodiment, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may be configured to analyze acalculated driver score and a calculated road risk score to determinewhether or not to remove the soft block and allow the incomingtelephonic event to be displayed on the mobile device.

In the event that the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationdetermines not to allow the incoming telephonic event to be displayed onthe mobile device, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay be configured to maintain the soft block until operation of thevehicle is terminated and/or to provide an auto-reply to the provider ofthe incoming telephonic event that the driver associated with the mobiledevice is unable to respond to the telephonic event. In the event thatthe incoming telephonic event analysis application determines to allowthe incoming telephonic event to be displayed on the mobile device, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may remove the softblock, activate the hands-free device, and transmit the incomingtelephonic event to the activated hands-free device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of aspects described herein and theadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an example auto-reply and hands-free system according toone or more aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an incomingtelephonic event analysis method according to one or more aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3A is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an incomingtelephonic event data analysis method according to one or more aspectsof the disclosure.

FIG. 3B is a flow diagram illustrating another example of an incomingtelephonic event data analysis method according to one or more aspectsof the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of an incomingtelephonic event analysis method according to one or more aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an incomingtelephonic event analysis method based on the presence of a hands-freedevice according to one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 6A is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an incomingtelephonic event data analysis method according to one or more aspectsof the disclosure.

FIG. 6B is a flow diagram illustrating another example of an incomingtelephonic event data analysis method according to one or more aspectsof the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of an incomingtelephonic event analysis method based on the presence of a hands-freedevice according to one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example network environment and computing systemsthat may be used to implement aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and inwhich is shown by way of illustration various embodiments in whichaspects described herein may be practiced. It is to be understood thatother embodiments may be utilized and structural and functionalmodifications may be made without departing from the scope of thedescribed aspects and embodiments. Aspects described herein are capableof other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out invarious ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology andterminology used herein are for the purpose of description and shouldnot be regarded as limiting. Rather, the phrases and terms used hereinare to be given their broadest interpretation and meaning. The use of“including” and “comprising” and variations thereof is meant toencompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well asadditional items and equivalents thereof. The use of the terms“mounted,” “connected,” “coupled,” “positioned,” “engaged” and similarterms, is meant to include both direct and indirect mounting,connecting, coupling, positioning and engaging.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating various example components of anauto-reply and hands-free system 100 according to one or more aspects ofthe disclosure. Auto-reply and hands-free system 100 may include avehicle 110, a mobile computing device 120, a network 130, and anincoming telephonic event analysis system 140. Each component shown inFIG. 1 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of thetwo. Additionally, each component of the auto-reply and hands-freesystem 100 may include a computing device (or system) having some or allof the structural components described below in regard to computingdevice 801 of FIG. 8.

Vehicle 110 of the auto-reply and hands-free system 100 may be anautomobile, motorcycle, scooter, bus, van, truck, semi-truck, train,boat, recreational vehicle, or other vehicle. The vehicle 110 mayfurther be an autonomous vehicle, semi-autonomous vehicle, ornon-autonomous vehicle. In some examples, vehicle 110 may includevehicle operation/performance sensors 111 capable of detecting,recording, and transmitting various vehicle performance and/oroperational data and environmental conditions data. For example, sensors111 may detect, store, and transmit data corresponding to the vehicle'sspeed, rates of acceleration and/or deceleration, braking, swerving, andthe like. Sensors 111 also may detect, store and/or transmit datareceived from the vehicle's internal systems, such as impact to the bodyof the vehicle, air bag deployment, headlight usage, brake lightoperation, door opening and closing, door locking and unlocking, cruisecontrol usage, hazard light usage, windshield wiper usage, horn usage,turn signal usage, seat belt usage, phone and radio usage within thevehicle, internal decibel levels, and other data collected by thevehicle's computer systems.

Sensors 111 also may detect, store, and/or transmit data relating tomoving violations and the observance of traffic signals and signs by thevehicle 110. Additional sensors 111 may detect, store, and transmit datarelating to the maintenance of the vehicle 110, such as the enginestatus, oil level, engine coolant temperature, odometer reading, thelevel of fuel in the fuel tank, engine revolutions per minute (RPMs),and/or tire pressure.

The sensors 111 of vehicle 110 may further include one or more camerasand proximity sensors capable of recording additional conditions insideor outside of the vehicle 110. Internal cameras may detect conditionssuch as the number of the passengers in the vehicle 110, and potentialsources of driver distraction within the vehicle (e.g., pets, phoneusage, and unsecured objects in the vehicle). External cameras andproximity sensors may be configured to detect environmental conditionsdata such as nearby vehicles, vehicle spacing, traffic levels, roadconditions, traffic obstructions, animals, cyclists, pedestrians,precipitation levels, light levels, sun position, and other conditionsthat may factor into driving operations of vehicle 110.

Additionally, vehicle sensors 111 may be configured to independentlytransmit the above-mentioned data to one or more internal computingsystems including on-board computer 115, as well as one or more externalcomputing systems such as telematics device 113, mobile device 120,and/or incoming telephonic event analysis system 140. In some instances,the data transmission to the one or more external computing systems maybe performed via on-board computer 115. In such cases, the on-boardcomputer 115 may be configured to transmit the data received fromvehicle sensors 111 to telematics device 113, mobile device 120, and/orincoming even analysis system 140 by way of vehicle communication system114.

Vehicle 110 may include a Global Positioning System (GPS) 112 which maybe used to generate data corresponding to the position and/or locationof vehicle 110. GPS 112 may be configured to independently transmit theabove-mentioned data to one or more internal computing systems includingon-board computer 115, as well as one or more external computing systemssuch as telematics device 113, mobile device 120, and/or incomingtelephonic event analysis system 140. In some instances, the datatransmission to the one or more external computing systems may beperformed via on-board computer 115. In such cases, the on-boardcomputer 115 may be configured to transmit the data received from GPS112 to telematics device 113, mobile device 120, and/or incoming evenanalysis system 140 by way of vehicle communication system 114.

Telematics device 113 may be configured to receive vehicle performanceand/or operational data and environmental conditions data in the form ofa data stream from on-board computer 115 via a data port, Bluetoothinterface, or any comparable communication interface of the vehicle 110.For example, telematics device 113 may include an on-board diagnostic(OBD) device adapter and may be connected to an OBD port of the vehicle110 through which on-board computer 115 may be configured to transmitdata to telematics device 113. In certain embodiments, telematics device113 may be configured to receive vehicle performance and/or operationaldata and environmental conditions data directly from vehicle sensors111, GPS 112, on-board computer 115, and/or mobile device 120 via awired or wireless connection. Telematics device 113 may include a memoryto store data received from vehicle sensors 111, GPS 112, on-boardcomputer 115, and/or mobile device 120.

The vehicle performance and/or operational data may be collected withappropriate permissions (e.g., from the driver, vehicle owner, etc.) andmay include operational data from an industry standard port such as aSAE-1962 connector, or an on board diagnostic (“OBD”) port or othervehicle data acquiring component. For example, operation data accessiblevia the OBDII port includes speed and engine throttle position or othervariable power controls of the vehicle power source. It may also includeso called “extended OBDII” or OBDIII datasets that are specific to eachmanufacturer and also available with manufacturer permission such asodometer reading, seat belt status, activation of brakes, degree andduration of steering direction, etc., and implementation of accidentavoidance devices such as turning signals, headlights, seatbelts,activation of automated braking systems (ABS), etc. Other informationregarding the operation of the vehicle may be collected such as, but notlimited to, interior and exterior vehicle temperature, windowdisplacement, exterior vehicle barometric pressure, exhaust pressure,vehicle emissions, turbo blower pressure, turbo charger RPM, vehicle GPSlocation, etc. The system may recognize or be configured to recognize aparticular language emitted by the vehicle system and may configure therecording component to receive or convert data in SAE J1850, ISO IS09141or KWP 2000 formats. Accordingly, U.S. and/or international OBDstandards may be accommodated. For instance, data may be collected froma variety of U.S. and/or international port types to permit use in avariety of locations. Alternatively, this step may be performed by aprocessor after the data is recorded.

Telematics device 113 may also include sensors such as, but not limited,an accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and GPS. Additionally, telematicsdevice 113 may include antennas to communicate with other deviceswirelessly. For example, telematics device 113 may communicate withon-board computer 115, mobile device 120, and/or incoming telephonicevent analysis system 140 over a wide area network (WAN), cellularnetwork, Wi-Fi network, and the like. Telematics device 113 may alsocommunicate with on-board computer 115 and mobile device 120 via aBluetooth connection. In certain embodiments, telematics device 113 maybe configured to establish a secure communication link and/or channelwith on-board computer 115, mobile device 120, and/or incomingtelephonic event analysis system 140.

In some arrangements, telematics device 113 may be a telematicsapplication operating on mobile computing device 120 and may utilizehardware components comprised within mobile computing device 120 (e.g.,memory, processors, communication hardware, etc.) to receive, store,and/or transmit vehicle performance and/or operational data andenvironmental conditions data.

Vehicle communication systems 114 may be implemented using wirelessprotocols such as WLAN communication protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11),Bluetooth (e.g., IEEE 802.15.1), one or more of the Communication Accessfor Land Mobiles (CALM) wireless communication protocols and airinterfaces, and the like. In certain systems, communication systems 114may include specialized hardware installed in vehicle 110 (e.g.,transceivers, antennas, etc.) to facilitate near field communication(NFC) and/or radio-frequency identification (RFID), while in otherexamples the communication systems 114 may be implemented using existingvehicle hardware components (e.g., radio and satellite equipment,navigation computers). In some instances, the vehicle communicationsystems 114 may be configured to transmit and receive data from vehiclesensors 111, GPS 112, telematics device 113, on-board computer 115,mobile device 120, and/or telephonic event analysis system 140 over awide area network (WAN), cellular network, Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth,RFID, and/or NFC.

Vehicle control computer 115 may contain some or all of thehardware/software components as the computing device 801 of FIG. 8, andmay be configured to operate aspects of the driving, or other operationof vehicle 110, including but not limited to, acceleration, braking,steering, and/or route navigation. Furthermore, vehicle control computer115 may be configured to operate one or more internal vehicle systemsand/or components including at least a vehicle sound system, dashboarddisplay and/or heads-up display system, hands-free system includinginput microphone and output speakers, interior lighting system, climatecontrol system, ignition system, door locking system, and the like.Similarly, vehicle control computer 115 may be configured to operate oneor more external vehicle systems and/or components including windshieldwipers, exterior lighting systems (e.g., headlights, tail lights,running lights, turn signals, emergency lights, etc.), emission andexhaust systems, fuel systems, suspension systems, transmission systems,and the like. In some instances, vehicle control computer 115 may beconfigured to perform the incoming telephonic event analysis methods asdescribed in further detail below in conjunction with mobile computingdevice 120 and/or incoming telephonic event analysis system 140.

Mobile computing device 120 may be, for example, a mobile phone,personal digital assistant (PDA), or tablet computer associated with thedriver or passenger(s) of vehicle 110. As such, mobile computing device120 may be included within the vehicle 110 and, in some instances, maybe used to independently collect vehicle driving data and/or to receivevehicle driving or operational/performance data and/or environmentalconditions data from one or more internal and/or external computingsystems (e.g., vehicle operation sensors 111, GPS 112, telematics device113, on-board computer 115, telematics device 120, and/or incomingtelephonic event analysis system 140). In one example, softwareapplications executing on mobile computing device 120 (e.g., telematicsapplication and/or incoming telephonic event analysis application) maybe configured to independently detect driving data and/or to receivevehicle driving data and/or environmental conditions data from one ormore internal and/or external computing systems. With respect toindependent vehicle data detection and collection, mobile device 120 maybe equipped with one or more accelerometers and/or GPS systems which maybe accessed by software applications executing on mobile computingdevice 120 to determine vehicle location, velocity, acceleration,direction, and other driving data. As stated above, mobile computingdevice 120 may be configured to transmit the independently collectedvehicle driving data and/or the received vehicle driving data to one ormore internal and/or external computing devices (e.g., on-board computer115, telematics device 120, and/or incoming telephonic event analysissystem 140).

Additionally, mobile computing device 120 may be configured to performthe incoming telephonic event analysis methods as described in furtherdetail below in conjunction with on-board computer 115 and/or incomingtelephonic event analysis system 140. In some instances, the incomingtelephonic event analysis methods may be performed by a telematicsapplication and/or an incoming telephonic event analysis applicationoperating on mobile device 120. In performing such methods, mobiledevice 120 may be configured to detect and store data corresponding toan incoming telephonic event, and may be further configured to transmitthe incoming telephonic event data to on-board computer 115 and/orincoming telephonic event analysis system 140. Furthermore, mobiledevice 120 may be configured to receive vehicle operational data,environmental conditions data, and/or data produced during theperformance of the incoming telephonic event analysis methods fromsensors 111, GPS 112, telematics device 113, on-board computer 115,and/or incoming telephonic event analysis system 140.

In certain embodiments, auto-reply and hands-free system 100 may furtherinclude hands-free device 116. Hands-free device 116 may be includedwithin vehicle 110 as a component of on-board computer 115 and/or as astandalone device. In instances in which hands-free device 116 is astandalone device, it may any one of a hands-free headphone, headset,in-ear device, glasses, necklace, watch, and/or bracelet and may also bea hands-free kit comprising at least a computing device, speaker, andmicrophone. In instances in which hands-free device 116 is includedwithin vehicle 110 as a component of on-board computer 115, hands-freedevice 116 may be a device, component, and/or system controlled byon-board computer 115. Regardless of the type (e.g., component ofon-board computer 115 and/or standalone device), hands-free device 116may contain some or all of the hardware/software components as thecomputing device 801 of FIG. 8.

Hands-free device 116 may be configured to sync and/or pair with mobiledevice 120 in order to facilitate communication between hands-freedevice 116 and mobile computing device 120. The syncing and/or pairingof hands-free device 116 with mobile computing device 120 may beperformed through any one, or combination of, Bluetooth, NFC, RFID, andthe like and/or through any one, or combination of, a WAN, cellularnetwork, Wi-Fi network, and the like. Responsive to syncing and/orpairing, communication between hands-free device 116 and mobile device120 may be conducted through any one, or combination of, a WAN, cellularnetwork, Wi-Fi network, and the like and/or through any one, orcombination of, Bluetooth, NFC, and the like.

The auto-reply and hands-free system 100 may include an incomingtelephonic event analysis system 140 including an authorization server150, a third party data source server 160, and a driver risk score/riskmap server 170. The incoming telephonic event analysis system 140 andeach of the authorization server 150, third party data source server160, and driver risk score/risk map server 170 may contain some or allof the hardware/software components as the computing device 801 of FIG.8.

The incoming telephonic event analysis system 140 may be a single servercontaining some or all of the hardware/software components as thecomputing device 801 of FIG. 8. In such instances, each of theauthorization server 150, third party data source server 160, and thedriver risk score/risk map server 170 may be virtual machines operatingon the incoming telephonic event analysis system 140. Alternatively, theincoming telephonic event analysis system 140 may be a plurality ofservers containing some or all of the hardware/software components asthe computing device 801 of FIG. 8. In such instances, each of theauthorization server 150, third party data source server 160, and thedriver risk score/risk map server 170 may be individualized serverentities.

In some instances, the analysis of the incoming telephonic eventdescribed in further detail below may be performed by is performed byincoming telephonic event analysis system 140. In such instances, themobile device 120 may transmit incoming telephonic event to incomingtelephonic event analysis system 140. Such data may include theindividual or entity associated with incoming telephonic event, time ofreceipt of the incoming telephonic event, and the type of the incomingtelephonic event. Upon receipt of the incoming telephonic event data,incoming telephonic event analysis system 140, alone or in combination,with on-board computer 115 may be able to perform the processes outlinedin FIGS. 2-7.

Authorization server 150 may comprise an authorization computer 152configured to receive, process, and transmit vehicle operational data,environmental conditions data, incoming telephonic event data, userauthorization preference data, driver score data, and risk map data todetermine whether or not an incoming telephonic event is to be allowedto be received at the mobile device 120 during the operation of vehicle110. The authorization server 150 may also comprise an authorizationdatabase 154 configured to store the above-mentioned data received,processed, and transmitted by authorization computer 152. Authorizationserver 150 may be configured to receive data from vehicle operationsensors 111, GPS 112, telematics device 113, on-board computer 115,mobile device 120, third party data source server 160, and driverscore/risk map server 170. Additionally, authorization server 150 may beconfigured to transmit data to telematics device 113, on-board computer115, mobile device 120, third party data source server 160, and driverscore/risk map server 170. In some instances, authorization server 150may be optional and the processes performed by authorization server 150may be distributed to any one, or combination of, mobile device 120 andon-board computer 115.

The third party data source server 160 may comprise a third party datasource computer 162 configured to receive, process, and transmitenvironmental conditions data associated with a geographic location ofvehicle 110 including current weather condition data, forecasted weathercondition data, traffic flow data, road closure data, road type data,and/or other data environmental conditions data such as flash flood,earthquake, tsunami, tornado, tropical depression, tropical storm, andhurricane warnings. The third party data source server 160 may alsocomprise a third party data source database 164 used to store theenvironmental conditions data collected by the third party data sourcecomputer 162. Third party data source server 160 may be configured toreceive data from vehicle operation sensors 111, GPS 112, telematicsdevice 113, on-board computer 115, mobile device 120, authorizationserver 150, and driver score/risk map server 170. Additionally, thirdparty data source server 160 may be configured to transmit data totelematics device 113, on-board computer 115, mobile device 120,authorization server 150, and driver score/risk map server 170. In someinstances, authorization server 150 may be optional and the processesperformed by authorization server 150 may be distributed to any one, orcombination of, mobile device 120 and on-board computer 115.

Driver score/risk map server 170 may comprise a driver score/risk mapcomputer 172 configured to receive and analyze vehicle operational dataand environmental conditions data to calculate a driver risk score for adriver of vehicle 110 and a road risk score for a road segment on whichvehicle 110 is driving. The calculation of the driver risk score and theroad risk score are respectively described in U.S. application Ser. No.13/564,524 entitled, “Calculation and Utilization of a Driving Score,”and U.S. application Ser. No. 15/052,291 entitled, “Risk Maps,” both ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Driverscore/risk map server 170 may further include driver score/risk mapdatabase 174 to store the calculated driver risk score and the road riskscore. In some instances, the driver score/risk map database 174 mayalso include historical data including insurance claims, accidentreports, and historical vehicle operations data and environmentalconditions data associated with insurance claims and accident reports.Such data may be utilized by driver score/risk map computer 172 incalculating the driver risk score and the road risk score. Driverscore/risk map server 170 may be configured to receive data from vehicleoperation sensors 111, GPS 112, telematics device 113, on-board computer115, mobile device 120, authorization server 150, and third party datasource server 160. Additionally, driver score/risk map server 170 may beconfigured to transmit data to telematics device 113, on-board computer115, mobile device 120, authorization server 150, and third party datasource server 160.

The following steps that are described in regard to FIGS. 2-7 may beimplemented by one or more of the components of FIGS. 1 and 8 (describedin detail below) and/or other components, including other computingdevices configured to perform the functions described herein.

FIG. 2 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example of an incomingtelephonic event analysis method according to one or more aspects of thedisclosure. As will be described below, the processes of the incomingtelephonic event analysis method may be performed by any one, orcombination of, mobile device 120, on-board computer 115, and incomingtelephonic event analysis system 140.

At step 202, the mobile device 120 associated with a driver of vehicle110 may receive an incoming telephonic event during the operation ofvehicle 110. The incoming telephonic event may be of any of a pluralityof telephonic event types (e.g., telephone call, text message, email,application notification, etc.) and may be associated with a firstindividual (e.g., mother, father, spouse, child, friend, coworker, etc.)associated with the driver of vehicle 110 or a first entity (e.g., bank,doctor's office, work place, telemarketer, etc.). In some instances, theincoming telephonic event may be a first, second, or third incomingtelephonic event associated with the first individual or first entity.In instances in which the incoming telephonic event is a second or thirdincoming telephonic event, the incoming telephonic event may be of thesame type, or a different type, as the previously received telephonicevent(s). For example, if the incoming telephonic event is a secondincoming telephonic event and is a telephone call, a previously receivedfirst incoming telephonic event may also be a telephone call, or may beany of a text message, email, application notification, and the like.

At step 204, upon receipt of the incoming telephonic event during anactive operation state of the vehicle 110, an incoming telephonic eventanalysis application operating on mobile device 120 may apply a softblock to the incoming telephonic event preventing the event from beingdisplayed on (and/or preventing audio notification from) the mobiledevice 120 based on the active operating state of the vehicle 110. Thesoft block applied by the incoming event analysis application may be afluid block, which may be either removed or maintained depending on ananalysis of the incoming telephonic event. After applying the softblock, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may analyzethe incoming telephonic event in relation to a velocity of the vehicle110, a pre-stored allowable individual or entity list, and/or anemergency incoming telephonic event threshold. In some instances, theanalysis of the incoming telephonic event in relation to theabove-mentioned factors may be performed by the incoming telephonicevent analysis application of mobile device 120, on-board computer 115,and/or incoming telephonic event analysis system 140.

At step 206, the incoming telephonic event analysis application mayfirst determine a velocity of the vehicle 110. In determining thevelocity of the vehicle 110, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may determine the velocity of vehicle 110 by requestingvelocity data of the vehicle 110 from any one, or combination of,vehicle sensors 111, GPS 112, telematics device 113, on-board computer115, and/or incoming event analysis system 140. The velocity of thevehicle 110 may be a static value determined at the time of receipt ofthe telephonic event or may be a dynamic value determined throughout theduration of the telephonic event. In instances in which the velocity ofthe vehicle 110 is a static value, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may request the velocity data corresponding to thetime of receipt of the telephonic event. Alternatively, in instances inwhich the velocity of the vehicle 110 is a dynamic value, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may request a continuous velocitydata stream commencing at the time of receipt of the incoming telephonicevent.

Through requesting the vehicle velocity data from a third party source(e.g., vehicle sensors 111, GPS 112, telematics device 113, on-boardcomputer 115, and/or incoming event analysis system 140), incomingtelephonic event analysis application may provide a technologicalsolution to existing deficiencies associated with mobile applicationsthat determine vehicle velocity based on GPS data provided by a GPSsystem associated with a mobile device and/or vehicle velocitydetermined based on accelerometer data provided by an accelerometer ofthe mobile device. As stated above, the velocity determinations providedby such applications are easily subverted through restricting GPS accessfor the mobile applications and/or through the utilization of vehiclecruise control systems (or travelling at a constant velocity) andthereby preventing mobile device accelerometer engagement. Therefore, byrequesting vehicle velocity data from a third party source, occurrencesof such issues may be reduced or eliminated.

In instances in which the velocity of the vehicle 110 is a static value,after receiving the requested static vehicle velocity data correspondingto the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may compare the received vehiclevelocity data to a pre-stored and/or predetermined velocity threshold(e.g., 0 mph, 5 mph, 10 mph, etc.). If the received vehicle velocitydata is less than the pre-stored velocity threshold, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may proceed to step 214 and removethe soft block and display the incoming telephonic event on the mobiledevice 120.

In one example, after removing the soft block and allowing the incomingtelephonic event to be displayed on mobile device 120, the incomingtelephonic event application may allow the user to take and/or respondto the telephonic event. In other examples, the incoming telephonicevent application may allow the user to take and/or respond to thetelephonic event for a predetermined period of time (e.g., 30 seconds, 1minute, 2 minutes, etc.), allow the user to take and/or respond to theincoming telephonic event if it is of a specific telephonic event type(e.g., telephone call) for a predetermined period of time, or may allowthe notification of the incoming telephonic event to be displayed onmobile device 120 but prevent the user from being able to take and/orrespond to the event until after vehicle operation has concluded. Whenthe incoming telephonic event is allowed to be taken and/or responded toby the user for a predetermined period of time, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may provide the user with incrementalcountdown updates alerting the user to the termination of thepredetermined allowable period. Such updates may occur any number oftimes within the predetermined allowable period (e.g., two times withinthe allowable period, three times within the allowable period, etc.).Alternatively, if the received vehicle velocity data is greater than orequal to the pre-stored velocity threshold, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may maintain the soft block and proceed tostep 208.

In instances in which the velocity of the vehicle 110 is a dynamicvalue, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may comparethe first vehicle velocity data point from the velocity data streamcorresponding to the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event toa pre-stored and/or predetermined velocity threshold (e.g., 0 mph, 5mph, 10 mph, etc.). If the first vehicle velocity data point is lessthan the pre-stored velocity threshold, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may proceed to step 214 and remove the soft blockand display the incoming telephonic event on the mobile device 120.

After removing the soft block and allowing the incoming telephonic eventto be displayed on mobile device 120, the incoming telephonic eventapplication may allow the user to take and/or respond to the telephonicevent, allow the user to take and/or respond to the telephonic event fora predetermined period of time (e.g., 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes,etc.), allow the user to take and/or respond to the incoming telephonicevent if it is of a specific telephonic event type (e.g., telephonecall) for a predetermined period of time, or allow the notification ofthe incoming telephonic event to be displayed on mobile device 120 butprevent the user from being able to take and/or respond to the eventuntil after vehicle operation has concluded. However, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may continuously compare thevehicle velocity data points from the vehicle velocity data stream tothe pre-stored and/or predetermined velocity threshold. In the eventthat a vehicle velocity data point from the vehicle velocity data streamexceeds the velocity threshold, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may alert the user that the incoming telephonic event willbe terminated unless the user decreases the velocity of the vehicle to apoint below the velocity threshold. Such an alert may be provided by theincoming telephonic event analysis application under any of the examplesin which incoming telephonic event analysis application allows the userto take and/or respond to the incoming telephonic event. Alternatively,if the first vehicle velocity data point from the velocity data streamis greater than or equal to the pre-stored velocity threshold, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may maintain the softblock and proceed to step 208.

At step 208, if the received vehicle velocity data is greater than orequal to the pre-stored velocity threshold and the soft block ismaintained, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine whether the incoming telephonic event is associated with anindividual or entity pre-stored by the user through the incomingtelephonic event analysis application as being an allowable individualor entity. The allowable individual or entity list may include one ormore individuals or entities previously entered by the driver associatedwith mobile device 120 into the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication. The driver associated with mobile device 120 may be allowedto enter an unlimited or finite amount (e.g., five individuals orentities) of allowable individuals or entities into the allowableindividual or entity list.

If the incoming telephonic event is determined to be associated with anallowable individual or entity, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may remove the soft block and allow the incoming telephonicevent to be displayed on mobile device 120 regardless of the velocity ofthe vehicle. After removing the soft block and allowing the incomingtelephonic event to be displayed on mobile device 120, the incomingtelephonic event application may allow the user to take and/or respondto the telephonic event in the ways described above. Alternatively, ifthe incoming telephonic event is determined not to be associated with anallowable individual or entity, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may maintain the soft block and proceed to step 210.

At step 210, the incoming telephonic event analysis application mayanalyze telephonic event data corresponding to the incoming telephonicin comparison with previously received telephonic event data todetermine whether the incoming telephonic event is a third telephonicevent associated with a particular individual or entity. Such analysesare described in further detail in regard to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

FIG. 3A is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an incomingtelephonic event data analysis method according to one or more aspectsof the disclosure. At step 302A, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may extract telephonic event data from the incomingtelephonic event. Such data may include a name, telephone number, username (e.g., handle), event type (e.g., telephone call, text message,email, application notification, etc.), and time of receipt.

At step 304A, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine whether a first immediately preceding telephonic event wasreceived. Data corresponding to previously received telephonic eventsmay be previously stored in memory on mobile device 120 by the incomingtelephonic event analysis application. In one instance, the storedpreviously received telephonic event data may correspond to an activeoperative period of vehicle 110, wherein the active operative isinitiated by a positive ignition event (e.g., vehicle 110 is turned on).In such instances, mobile device 120 may be configured to receiveindication of a positive ignition event from sensors 111, telematicsdevice 113, and/or on-board computer 115 and the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may be configured to create a data ledgerwithin memory of mobile device 120 corresponding to the active operativeperiod of vehicle 110. As will be discussed in further detail below, thedata ledger may be cleared and/or reset responsive to the conclusion ofthe active operative period through receipt of an indication of anegative ignition event (e.g., vehicle 110 is turned off). In doing so,memory of mobile device 120 may be actively conserved as related to theincoming telephonic event application. Alternatively, the data ledgermay be achieved responsive to the conclusion of the active operativeperiod through receipt of an indication of a negative ignition event andmay be accessible at a later time.

In any event, if no data corresponding to a first immediately precedingtelephonic event exists in memory (e.g., no previous telephonic eventdata exists in memory), the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may determine that the incoming telephonic event is a firstincoming telephonic event. If the incoming telephonic event isdetermined to be a first incoming telephonic event, incoming telephonicevent analysis application may maintain the soft block and prevent thefirst incoming telephonic event from being displayed on the mobiledevice 120 at step 212. Additionally, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may provide a notification to the individual orentity associated with the first incoming telephonic event that the useris driving and currently unavailable to respond to the telephonic event.Furthermore, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maystore the telephonic event data associated with the first telephonicevent in memory in the data ledger associated with the active operativeperiod of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if one or more previously stored telephonic event dataentries exists in memory in the data ledger, the determination of thefirst immediately preceding telephonic event may be made. In instancesin which a plurality of previously stored telephonic event data entriesexists in the data ledger, the determination of the first immediatelypreceding telephonic event may be made based on a time differencebetween the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event andpreviously stored receipt times corresponding to previously receivedtelephonic events. The difference with the smallest magnitude may bedetermined to be the first immediately preceding telephonic event.Alternatively, in instances in which data corresponding to only onepreviously received telephonic event is stored in memory in the dataledger, a comparison of receipt times may be foregone and the onepreviously received telephonic event may be determined to be the firstimmediately preceding telephonic event.

At step 306A, after determining that a first immediately precedingtelephonic event was received, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may compare the extracted name, telephone number, and username (e.g., handle) from the incoming telephonic event to that of thefirst immediately preceding telephonic event to determine whether or notthe incoming telephonic event and the first immediately precedingtelephonic event share a common sending individual or entity. If it isdetermined that the incoming telephonic event and the first immediatelypreceding telephonic event do not share a common sending individual orentity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determinethat the incoming telephonic event is a first incoming telephonic eventassociated with a particular sending individual or entity. After such adetermination, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maymaintain the soft block and prevent the first incoming telephonic eventfrom being displayed on the mobile device 120 at step 212. Additionally,the incoming telephonic event analysis application may provide anotification to the individual or entity associated with the firstincoming telephonic event that the user is driving and currentlyunavailable to respond to the telephonic event. Furthermore, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may store the telephonicevent data associated with the first telephonic event in memory in thedata ledger associated with the active operative period of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if it is determined that the incoming telephonic event andthe first immediately preceding telephonic event share a common sendingindividual or entity, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay determine that the incoming telephonic event is at least a secondincoming telephonic event associated with the particular sendingindividual or entity and may proceed to step 308A.

At step 308A, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine whether a second immediately preceding telephonic event wasreceived. In doing so, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may review the data ledger in memory to determine if asecond immediately preceding telephonic event was received. If no datacorresponding to a second immediately preceding telephonic event existsin memory (e.g., only data corresponding to the first immediatelypreceding telephonic event exits in memory), the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may determine that the incoming telephonicevent is a second incoming telephonic event associated with theparticular individual or entity and prevent the second incomingtelephonic event from being displayed on the mobile device 120 at step212. Additionally, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay provide a notification to the individual or entity associated withthe second incoming telephonic event alerting the individual or entitythat the user is still driving and unavailable to respond to thetelephonic event, but if that it is an emergency situation, theindividual or entity should provide a third telephonic event to beconnected to the mobile device of the user. Furthermore, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may store the telephonic eventdata associated with the second telephonic event in memory in the dataledger associated with the active operative period of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if two or more previously stored telephonic event dataentries exists in memory in the data ledger, the determination of thesecond immediately preceding telephonic event may be made. In instancesin which a plurality of previously stored telephonic event data entriesexists in the data ledger, the determination of the second immediatelypreceding telephonic event may be made based on a time differencebetween the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event andpreviously stored receipt times corresponding to previously receivedtelephonic events. The difference with the second smallest magnitude maybe determined to be the second immediately preceding telephonic event.

At step 310A, after determining that a second immediately precedingtelephonic event was received, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may compare the extracted name, telephone number, and username (e.g., handle) from the incoming telephonic event to that of thesecond immediately preceding telephonic event to determine whether ornot the incoming telephonic event and the second immediately precedingtelephonic event share a common sending individual or entity. If it isdetermined that the incoming telephonic event and the second immediatelypreceding telephonic event do not share a common sending individual orentity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determinethat the incoming telephonic event is a second incoming telephonic eventassociated with the particular individual or entity and prevent thesecond incoming telephonic event from being displayed on the mobiledevice 120 at step 212. Additionally, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may provide a notification to the individual orentity associated with the second incoming telephonic event alerting theindividual or entity that the user is still driving and unavailable torespond to the telephonic event, but if that it is an emergencysituation, the individual or entity should provide a third telephonicevent to be connected to the mobile device of the user. Furthermore, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may store the telephonicevent data associated with the second telephonic event in memory in thedata ledger associated with the active operative period of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if it is determined that the incoming telephonic event andthe second immediately preceding telephonic event share a common sendingindividual or entity, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay determine that the incoming telephonic event is at least a thirdincoming telephonic event associated with the particular sendingindividual or entity and, at step 214, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may remove the soft block and allow the thirdincoming telephonic event to being displayed on the mobile device 120.After removing the soft block and allowing the incoming telephonic eventto be displayed on mobile device 120, the incoming telephonic eventapplication may allow the user to take and/or respond to the telephonicevent in the ways described above.

FIG. 3B is a flow diagram illustrating another example of an incomingtelephonic event data analysis method according to one or more aspectsof the disclosure. At step 302B, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may extract telephonic event data from the incomingtelephonic event. Such data may include a name, telephone number, username (e.g., handle), event type (e.g., telephone call, text message,email, application notification, etc.), and time of receipt.

At step 304B, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine whether previously stored telephonic event data is stored inmemory in the data ledger associated with the active operative period ofvehicle 110. Data corresponding to previously received telephonic eventsmay be previously stored in memory on mobile device 120 by the incomingtelephonic event analysis application. In one instance, the storedpreviously received telephonic event data may correspond to an activeoperative period of vehicle 110, wherein the active operative isinitiated by a positive ignition event (e.g., vehicle 110 is turned on).In such instances, mobile device 120 may be configured to receiveindication of a positive ignition event from sensors 111, telematicsdevice 113, and/or on-board computer 115 and the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may be configured to create a data ledgerwithin memory of mobile device 120 corresponding to the active operativeperiod of vehicle 110. In one instance, the data ledger may be clearedand/or reset responsive to the conclusion of the active operative periodthrough receipt of an indication of a negative ignition event (e.g.,vehicle 110 is turned off). In doing so, memory of mobile device 120 maybe actively conserved as related to the incoming telephonic eventapplication. Alternatively, the data ledger may be achieved responsiveto the conclusion of the active operative period through receipt of anindication of a negative ignition event and may be accessible at a latertime.

However, in some cases, the active operating state of the vehicle 110may be determined by a velocity, acceleration, and/or displacementmagnitude and mobile device 120 may be configured to receive indicationof such a magnitude from sensors 111, telematics device 113, and/oron-board computer 115 and the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may be configured to create a data ledger within memory ofmobile device 120 corresponding to the active operative period ofvehicle 110. Similarly, the termination of an active operating state ofthe vehicle 110 may be determined by a prolonged period (e.g., 1 min, 5min, 10 min, etc.) without a velocity, acceleration, and/or displacementmagnitude.

In some instances, the start of an active operating state of the vehicle110 may be determined by a negative parking brake indication (e.g.,parking brake disengaged), a shift into reverse or drive after aprolonged period (e.g., 5 min, 10 min, 30 min, etc.) of being in park, apositive headlight activation, brake pedal activation, gas pedalactivation, and/or a state change in one or more vehicle systemsrequiring user input. Conversely, the end of an active operating stateof vehicle 110 may be determined by a positive parking brake indication(e.g., parking brake engagement), a shift into park, headlightdeactivation, absence of brake pedal usage, gas pedal usage, and/orstate change in one or more vehicle systems requiring user input.Additionally, such state changes may be time constrained. Similar to thestate changes noted above, mobile device 120 may be configured toreceive indication of such state changes from sensors 111, telematicsdevice 113, and/or on-board computer 115.

If no data corresponding to a previously received telephonic eventexists in memory, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine that the incoming telephonic event is a first incomingtelephonic event. If the incoming telephonic event is determined to be afirst incoming telephonic event, incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may maintain the soft block and prevent the first incomingtelephonic event from being displayed on the mobile device 120 at step212. Additionally, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay provide a notification to the individual or entity associated withthe first incoming telephonic event that the user is driving andcurrently unavailable to respond to the telephonic event. Furthermore,the incoming telephonic event analysis application may store thetelephonic event data associated with the first telephonic event inmemory in the data ledger associated with the active operative period ofvehicle 110.

Conversely, if data corresponding to one or more previously receivedtelephonic events is stored in memory in the data ledger associated withthe active operative period of vehicle 110, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may consolidate the previously storedtelephonic event data based on a retroactive time window, wherein thepreviously stored telephonic event data comprised within theconsolidated window may be marked for further comparison with thetelephonic event data of the incoming telephonic event. The retroactivetime window may be a predetermined period of time (e.g., 1 minute, 5minutes, 30 minutes, etc.) extending into the past from the time atwhich the incoming telephonic event was received at mobile device 120.For example, if previously stored telephonic event data exists in memoryin the data ledger and an incoming telephonic event is received at 3:00PM EST, the retroactive time window may extend into the past until 2:55PM EST. Each telephonic event received between 2:55 PM EST and 3:00 PMEST may be isolated by the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication from the remainder of the previously stored telephonic eventdata received outside of the retroactive time window and marked forfurther comparison.

At step 306B, after isolating previously stored telephonic event datawithin the retroactive time window, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may compare the extracted name, telephone number,and user name (e.g., handle) from the incoming telephonic event to thatof each of the previously stored telephonic event data entries in theconsolidated time window to determine whether or not the incomingtelephonic event and any of the previously stored telephonic event dataentries share a common sending individual or entity. If it is determinedthat the incoming telephonic event and any of the previously storedtelephonic event data entries do not share a common sending individualor entity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine that the incoming telephonic event is a first incomingtelephonic event associated with a particular sending individual orentity. After such a determination, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may maintain the soft block and prevent the firstincoming telephonic event from being displayed on the mobile device 120at step 212. Additionally, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may provide a notification to the individual or entityassociated with the first incoming telephonic event that the user isdriving and currently unavailable to respond to the telephonic event.Furthermore, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maystore the telephonic event data associated with the first telephonicevent in memory in the data ledger associated with the active operativeperiod of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if it is determined that the incoming telephonic event andat least a first entry of the previously stored telephonic event dataentries in the retroactive window share a common sending individual orentity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determinethat the incoming telephonic event is at least a second incomingtelephonic event associated with the particular individual or entity andmay proceed to step 308B.

At step 308B, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maycompare the extracted name, telephone number, and user name (e.g.,handle) from the incoming telephonic event to that of each of thepreviously stored telephonic event data entries in the consolidated timewindow (besides the first entry sharing the common individual or entitydetermined in step 306B) to determine whether or not the incomingtelephonic event and a second entry of the previously stored telephonicevent data entries share a common sending individual or entity. If it isdetermined that the incoming telephonic event and none of the remainderof the previously stored telephonic event data entries share a commonsending individual or entity, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may determine that the incoming telephonic event is a secondincoming telephonic event associated with a particular sendingindividual or entity. After such a determination, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may maintain the soft block andprevent the second incoming telephonic event from being displayed on themobile device 120 at step 212. Additionally, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may provide a notification to the individualor entity associated with the second incoming telephonic event that theuser is driving and currently unavailable to respond to the telephonicevent. Furthermore, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay store the telephonic event data associated with the secondtelephonic event in memory in the data ledger associated with the activeoperative period of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if it is determined that the incoming telephonic event andat least a second entry of the previously stored telephonic event dataentries in the retroactive window share a common sending individual orentity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determinethat the incoming telephonic event is at least a third incomingtelephonic event associated with the particular sending individual orentity and, at step 214, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may remove the soft block and allow the third incomingtelephonic event to being displayed on the mobile device 120. Afterremoving the soft block and allowing the incoming telephonic event to bedisplayed on mobile device 120, the incoming telephonic eventapplication may allow the user to take and/or respond to the telephonicevent in the ways described above.

In some instances, when the soft block is removed by the incomingtelephonic event analysis application and the incoming telephonic eventis displayed on mobile device 120, the driver associated with mobiledevice 120 may be awarded points for not interacting with the mobiledevice 120 in response to the displayed telephonic event. Such pointsmay be used by the driver associated with mobile device 120 toincrementally increase the predetermined vehicle velocity thresholdand/or add additional individuals or entities to the allowableindividual or entity list. For example, for every incoming telephonicevent displayed on mobile device 120 that is not interacted with by thedriver of vehicle 110, one point may be awarded to the driver. After 100points have been awarded, the driver may be able to increase thevelocity threshold by 0.1 mph. Alternatively, after 1000 points havebeen awarded, the driver may be able to add an additional individual orentity to the allowable individual or entity list. In some instances,the driver may receive electronic badges after surpassing certain pointthresholds (e.g., 100 points, 500 points, etc.). Additionally oralternatively, the driver may receive a financial reward for reachingcertain points thresholds.

At step 216, after the active operative period of vehicle 110 has beenterminated and an indication of such has been received at mobile device120, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may display arollup on the mobile device 120 of the driver comprising each of theincoming telephonic events blocked from being displayed on mobile device120 during driving. The rollup may include each of the data entriesstored in the data ledger in memory. As such, each of the telephonicevents received during operation of vehicle 110, the type of each of thetelephonic events, the individual or entity associated with the each ofthe telephonic events, an indication of availability of each of theindividuals or entities associated with each of the telephonic events,and the time of receipt of each of the telephonic events. In someinstances, the driver may be able to select each of the telephonicevents comprised in the rollup to respond to the telephonic event in themanner corresponding to the event type (e.g., telephone call, email,text message, application specific interface, etc.). Alternatively, thedriver may be able to select from the totality of telephonic event typesin responding to the received telephonic event.

In some instances, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay be configured to cleared and/or reset the data ledger responsive tothe conclusion of the active operative period through receipt of a statechange event from sensors 111, telematics device 113, and/or on-boardcomputer 115. In doing so, memory of mobile device 120 may be activelyconserved as related to the incoming telephonic event application.Alternatively, the data ledger may be achieved responsive to theconclusion of the active operative period through receipt of anindication of a negative ignition event and may be accessible at a latertime.

In examples in which the analysis of the incoming telephonic event isperformed by on-board computer 115 and/or incoming telephonic eventanalysis system 140, mobile device 120 may transmit incoming telephonicevent data to on-board computer 115 and/or incoming telephonic eventanalysis system 140. Such data may include the individual or entityassociated with incoming telephonic event, time of receipt of theincoming telephonic event, and the type of the incoming telephonicevent. Upon receipt of the incoming telephonic event data, on-boardcomputer 115 and incoming telephonic event analysis system 140, alone orin combination, may be able to perform the determination featuresoutlined above in steps 206, 208, and 210 (e.g., FIGS. 3A and 3B).Responsive to performing the respective determination steps, on-boardcomputer 115 and incoming telephonic event analysis system 140, eitheralone or in combination, may be configured to transmit the results ofsuch steps to mobile device 120.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of an incomingtelephonic event analysis method according to one or more aspects of thedisclosure. As will be described below, the processes of the incomingtelephonic event analysis method may be performed by any one, orcombination of, mobile device 120, on-board computer 115, and incomingtelephonic event analysis system 140.

At step 402, the mobile device 120 may receive an incoming telephonicevent analysis application activation command from on-board computer115, which may send the activation command in response to receiving apositive vehicle ignition event (e.g., turning vehicle on and commencingactive vehicle operation state) and/or any one, or combination of, statechange events described above. Responsive to receiving the incomingtelephonic event analysis application activation command, mobile device120 may activate the incoming telephonic event analysis application. Assuch, the processing of mobile device 120 may be controlled at least inpart by the on-board computer 115 in cases in which an ignition event isdetected. In doing so, the battery of mobile device 120 may be conservedby preventing the processes of the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication from running in a state outside of the operation of vehicle110. Additionally, by automating the application activation based on anignition event, instances in which the driver of vehicle 110 associatedwith mobile device 120 forgets to launch the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may be reduced or eliminated.

At step 404, after the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationhas been activated on mobile device 120 responsive to the command sentfrom vehicle on-board computer 115, the mobile device 120 associatedwith the driver of vehicle 110 may receive an incoming telephonic eventduring operation of vehicle 110. The incoming telephonic event may be ofany of a plurality of telephonic event types. Upon receipt of theincoming telephonic event, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication operating on mobile device 120 may apply a soft block to theincoming telephonic event preventing the event from being displayed onthe mobile device 120 based on the active operation state of the vehicle110.

At step 406, the mobile device 120 may transmit a data transmittalcontrol command to telematics device 113. The data transmittal controlcommand may be configured to activate telematics device 113 and mayfurther include instructions for the telematics device 113 to transmitspecific data elements of the vehicle operational data and environmentalconditions data to incoming telephonic event analysis system 140corresponding to the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event.The specific data elements within the broader categories of vehicleoperational data and environmental conditions data may coincide withdata elements required by driver score/risk map server 170 to performthe calculations of the driver risk score and road risk score.Alternatively, the data transmittal control command may includeinstructions for telematics device 113 to transmit the specific dataelements to mobile device 120. In such instances, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application on mobile device 120 may beconfigured to perform the driver risk score and road risk scorecalculations described below in regards to driver score/risk map server170. In either event, by transmitting only the necessary data to performthe driver risk score and road risk score calculations corresponding tothe time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event, bandwidth andprocessing power may be conserved.

In response to receiving the specific data elements of the vehicleoperational data and environmental conditions data from telematicsdevice 113, incoming telephonic event analysis system 140 may route thedata to driver score/risk map server 170. The driver score/risk mapserver 170 may use the data in conjunction with historical data storedin driver score/risk map database 174 and auxiliary environmentalconditions data provided by third party data source server 160 toperform the driver risk score and road risk score calculations. Afterperforming the calculations, driver score/risk map server 170 maytransmit the calculated driver risk score and road risk score to mobiledevice 120, which may be configured to receive the calculated driverrisk score and road risk score at step 308.

At step 410, upon receiving the calculated driver risk score and roadrisk score from driver score/risk map server 170, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application on mobile device 120 may determinewhether or not to remove or to maintain the soft block applied to theincoming telephonic event. In doing so, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may compare both the driver risk score and the roadrisk score to allowance thresholds respective to the driver risk scoreand the road risk score. If both of the driver score and the road riskscore are below the respective allowance thresholds, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may proceed to step 314, removethe soft block, and allow the incoming telephonic event to the displayedon the mobile device 120. After removing the soft block and allowing theincoming telephonic event to be displayed on mobile device 120, theincoming telephonic event application may allow the user to take and/orrespond to the telephonic event in the ways described above.Alternatively, if either or both of the driver risk score or the roadrisk score is above the respective allowance threshold, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may proceed to step 312, maintainthe soft block, and prevent the incoming telephonic event from beingdisplayed on the mobile device 120.

In some instances, when the soft block is removed by the incomingtelephonic event analysis application and the incoming telephonic eventis displayed on mobile device 120, the driver associated with mobiledevice 120 may be awarded points for not interacting with the mobiledevice 120 in response to the displayed telephonic event. Such pointsmay be used by the driver associated with mobile device 120 toincrementally increase the predetermined vehicle velocity thresholdand/or add additional individuals or entities to the allowableindividual or entity list. For example, for every incoming telephonicevent displayed on mobile device 120 that is not interacted with by thedriver of vehicle 110, one point may be awarded to the driver. After 100points have been awarded, the driver may be able to increase thevelocity threshold by 0.1 mph. Alternatively, after 1000 points havebeen awarded, the driver may be able to add an additional individual orentity to the allowable individual or entity list. In some instances,the driver may receive electronic badges after surpassing certain pointthresholds (e.g., 100 points, 500 points, etc.).

At step 416, after driving has been completed and vehicle 110 is turnedoff, the mobile device 120 may receive an incoming telephonic eventanalysis application deactivation command from on-board computer 115,which may be send the deactivation command in response to receiving anegative vehicle ignition event (e.g., turning vehicle off). Byactivating and deactivating the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication in response to a vehicle ignition event (e.g., turningvehicle on or off), the battery and processing power of mobile device120 may be conserved by ensuring that the utilization of the incomingtelephonic event analysis application coincides with periods ofoperation of vehicle 110. Additionally, the usage of the vehicleignition event to trigger the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may restrict the operation of the application to periods ofdriving and prevent operation carry over between periods of driving andperiods of non-driving.

After operation of vehicle 110 has been terminated but prior todeactivation, the incoming telephonic event analysis application mayprovide the driver associated with mobile device 110 with a rollupcomprising each of the incoming telephonic events blocked from beingdisplayed on mobile device 120 during driving. The rollup may includeeach of the telephonic events received during operation of vehicle 110,the type of each of the telephonic events, the individual or entityassociated with the each of the telephonic events, an indication ofavailability of each of the individuals or entities associated with eachof the telephonic events, and the time of receipt of each of thetelephonic events. In some instances, the driver may be able to selecteach of the telephonic events comprised in the rollup to respond to thetelephonic event in the manner corresponding to the event type (e.g.,telephone call, email, text message, application specific interface,etc.). Alternatively, the driver may be able to select from the totalityof telephonic event types in responding to the received telephonicevent.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an incomingtelephonic event analysis method based on the presence of a hands-freedevice according to one or more aspects of the disclosure. As will bedescribed below, the processes of the incoming telephonic event analysismethod may be performed by any one, or combination of, mobile device120, on-board computer 115, and incoming telephonic event analysissystem 140.

At step 502, mobile device 120 may launch the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application in response to a user input. At step 504, after theincoming telephonic event analysis application has been launched, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may cause the mobiledevice 120 to scan for the presence of a hands-free device 116 in theproximity of mobile device 120. In the event that a hands-free device116 is registered during the scan conducted by mobile device 120, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may instruct the mobiledevice 120 to sync and/or pair with the hands-free device 116.Alternatively, if a hands-free device 116 is not registered during thescan, no instruction to sync and/or pair may be given to mobile device120.

In either event, at step 506, mobile device 120 associated with a driverof vehicle 110 may receive an incoming telephonic event during operationof vehicle 110. The incoming telephonic event may be of any of aplurality of telephonic event types and may be associated with a firstindividual associated with the driver of vehicle 110 or a first entity.In some instances, the incoming telephonic event may be a first, second,or third incoming telephonic event associated with the first individualor first entity. Upon receipt of the incoming telephonic event, theincoming telephonic event analysis application operating on mobiledevice 120 may apply a soft block to the incoming telephonic eventpreventing the event from being displayed on the mobile device 120 basedon the active operative state of the vehicle 110. After applying thesoft block, the incoming event analysis application may analyze theincoming telephonic event in relation to a state of syncing and/orpairing with the hands-free device 116, a velocity of the vehicle 110corresponding to the time of receipt of the telephonic event, apre-stored allowable individual or entity list, and/or an emergencyincoming telephonic event threshold.

At step 508, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine a velocity of the vehicle 110 at the time of receiving theincoming telephonic event. In determining the velocity of the vehicle110, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may requestvelocity data of the vehicle 110 from any one, or combination of,vehicle sensors 111, GPS 112, telematics device 113, on-board computer115, and/or incoming event analysis system 140. The velocity of thevehicle 110 may be a static value determined at the time of receipt ofthe telephonic event or may be a dynamic value determined throughout theduration of the telephonic event. In instances in which the velocity ofthe vehicle 110 is a static value, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may request the velocity data corresponding to thetime of receipt of the telephonic event. Alternatively, in instances inwhich the velocity of the vehicle 110 is a dynamic value, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may request a continuous velocitydata stream commencing at the time of receipt of the incoming telephonicevent.

In instances in which the velocity of the vehicle 110 is a static value,after receiving the requested static vehicle velocity data correspondingto the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may compare the received vehiclevelocity data to a pre-stored and/or predetermined velocity threshold(e.g., 0 mph, 5 mph, 10 mph, etc.). At step 516, if the received vehiclevelocity data is less than the pre-stored velocity threshold, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may determine whether ornot the mobile device 120 was synced and/or paired with the hands-freedevice 116. At step 518, if the mobile device 120 was previously syncedand/or paired with the hands-free device 116 after the launching of theincoming telephonic event analysis application, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may activate the hands-free device 116,remove the soft block, and direct the incoming telephonic event on themobile device 120 to hands-free device 116. Alternatively, at step 520,if the mobile device 120 was not previously synced and/or paired withthe hands-free device 116 because no hands-free device 116 was detectedafter launch of the incoming telephonic event analysis application, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may remove the soft blockand display the incoming telephonic event on the mobile device 120.

In one example, after step 518 or step 520, the incoming telephonicevent application may allow the user to take and/or respond to thetelephonic event, allow the user to take and/or respond to thetelephonic event for a predetermined period of time (e.g., 30 seconds, 1minute, 2 minutes, etc.), allow the user to take and/or respond to theincoming telephonic event if it is of a specific telephonic event type(e.g., telephone call) for a predetermined period of time, or may allowthe notification of the incoming telephonic event to be displayed onmobile device 120 but prevent the user from being able to take and/orrespond to the event until after vehicle operation has concluded. Whenthe incoming telephonic event is allowed to be taken and/or responded toby the user for a predetermined period of time, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may provide the user with incrementalcountdown updates alerting the user to the termination of thepredetermined allowable period. Such updates may occur any number oftimes within the predetermined allowable period (e.g., two times withinthe allowable period, three times within the allowable period, etc.).Alternatively, if the received vehicle velocity data is greater than orequal to the pre-stored velocity threshold, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may maintain the soft block and proceed tostep 510.

In instances in which the velocity of the vehicle 110 is a dynamicvalue, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may comparethe first vehicle velocity data point from the velocity data streamcorresponding to the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event toa pre-stored and/or predetermined velocity threshold (e.g., 0 mph, 5mph, 10 mph, etc.). At step 516, if the first vehicle velocity datapoint is less than the pre-stored velocity threshold, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may determine whether or not themobile device 120 was synced and/or paired with the hands-free device116. At step 518, if the mobile device 120 was previously synced and/orpaired with the hands-free device 116 after the launching of theincoming telephonic event analysis application, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may activate the hands-free device 116,remove the soft block, and direct the incoming telephonic event on themobile device 120 to hands-free device 116. Alternatively, at step 520,if the mobile device 120 was not previously synced and/or paired withthe hands-free device 116 because no hands-free device 116 was detectedafter launch of the incoming telephonic event analysis application, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may remove the soft blockand display the incoming telephonic event on the mobile device 120.

After step 518 or step 520, the incoming telephonic event applicationmay allow the user to take and/or respond to the telephonic event, allowthe user to take and/or respond to the telephonic event for apredetermined period of time (e.g., 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes,etc.), allow the user to take and/or respond to the incoming telephonicevent if it is of a specific telephonic event type (e.g., telephonecall) for a predetermined period of time, or allow the notification ofthe incoming telephonic event to be displayed on mobile device 120 butprevent the user from being able to take and/or respond to the eventuntil after vehicle operation has concluded. However, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may continuously compare thevehicle velocity data points from the vehicle velocity data stream tothe pre-stored and/or predetermined velocity threshold. In the eventthat a vehicle velocity data point from the vehicle velocity data streamexceeds the velocity threshold, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may alert the user that the incoming telephonic event willbe terminated unless the user decreases the velocity of the vehicle to apoint below the velocity threshold. Such an alert may be provided by theincoming telephonic event analysis application under any of the examplesin which incoming telephonic event analysis application allows the userto take and/or respond to the incoming telephonic event. Alternatively,if the first vehicle velocity data point from the velocity data streamis greater than or equal to the pre-stored velocity threshold, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may maintain the softblock and proceed to Step 410.

At step 510, if the received vehicle velocity data is greater than orequal to the pre-stored velocity threshold and the soft block ismaintained, the incoming event analysis application may determinewhether the incoming telephonic event is associated with an individualor entity pre-stored by the user through the incoming event analysisapplication as being an allowable individual or entity. The allowableindividual or entity list may include one or more individuals orentities previously entered by the driver associated with mobile device120 into the incoming telephonic event analysis application. The driverassociated with mobile device 120 may be allowed to enter an unlimitedor finite amount (e.g., five individuals or entities) of allowableindividuals or entities into the allowable individual or entity list.

At step 516, if the incoming telephonic event is determined to beassociated with an allowable individual or entity, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may determine whether or not themobile device 120 was synced and/or paired with the hands-free device116. At step 518, if the mobile device 120 was previously synced and/orpaired with the hands-free device 116, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may activate the hands-free device 116, remove thesoft block, and direct the incoming telephonic event on the mobiledevice 120 to hands-free device 116. Alternatively, at step 520, if themobile device 120 was not previously synced and/or paired with thehands-free device 116, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may remove the soft block and display the incomingtelephonic event on the mobile device 120. Conversely, if the incomingtelephonic event is determined not to be associated with an allowableindividual or entity, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay maintain the soft block and prevent the incoming telephonic eventfrom being displayed on mobile device 120 regardless of whether or notthe mobile device 120 was synced and/or paired with hands-free device116 and proceed to step 512.

At step 512, the incoming telephonic event analysis application mayanalyze telephonic event data corresponding to the incoming telephonicin comparison with previously received telephonic event data todetermine whether the incoming telephonic event is a third telephonicevent associated with a particular individual or entity. Such analysesare described in further detail in regard to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

FIG. 6A is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an incomingtelephonic event data analysis method according to one or more aspectsof the disclosure. At step 602A, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may extract telephonic event data from the incomingtelephonic event. Such data may include a name, telephone number, username (e.g., handle), event type (e.g., telephone call, text message,email, application notification, etc.), and time of receipt.

At step 604A, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine whether a first immediately preceding telephonic event wasreceived. Data corresponding to previously received telephonic eventsmay be previously stored in memory on mobile device 120 by the incomingtelephonic event analysis application. In one instance, the storedpreviously received telephonic event data may correspond to an activeoperative period of vehicle 110, wherein the active operative isinitiated by a positive ignition event (e.g., vehicle 110 is turned on).In such instances, mobile device 120 may be configured to receiveindication of a positive ignition event from sensors 111, telematicsdevice 113, and/or on-board computer 115 and the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may be configured to create a data ledgerwithin memory of mobile device 120 corresponding to the active operativeperiod of vehicle 110. As will be discussed in further detail below, thedata ledger may be cleared and/or reset responsive to the conclusion ofthe active operative period through receipt of an indication of anegative ignition event (e.g., vehicle 110 is turned off). In doing so,memory of mobile device 120 may be actively conserved as related to theincoming telephonic event application. Alternatively, the data ledgermay be achieved responsive to the conclusion of the active operativeperiod through receipt of an indication of a negative ignition event andmay be accessible at a later time.

In any event, if no data corresponding to a first immediately precedingtelephonic event exists in memory (e.g., no previous telephonic eventdata exists in memory), the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may determine that the incoming telephonic event is a firstincoming telephonic event. If the incoming telephonic event isdetermined to be a first incoming telephonic event, incoming telephonicevent analysis application may maintain the soft block and prevent thefirst incoming telephonic event from being displayed on the mobiledevice 120 at step 514. Additionally, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may provide a notification to the individual orentity associated with the first incoming telephonic event that the useris driving and currently unavailable to respond to the telephonic event.Furthermore, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maystore the telephonic event data associated with the first telephonicevent in memory in the data ledger associated with the active operativeperiod of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if one or more previously stored telephonic event dataentries exists in memory in the data ledger, the determination of thefirst immediately preceding telephonic event may be made. In instancesin which a plurality of previously stored telephonic event data entriesexists in the data ledger, the determination of the first immediatelypreceding telephonic event may be made based on a time differencebetween the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event andpreviously stored receipt times corresponding to previously receivedtelephonic events. The difference with the smallest magnitude may bedetermined to be the first immediately preceding telephonic event.Alternatively, in instances in which data corresponding to only onepreviously received telephonic event is stored in memory in the dataledger, a comparison of receipt times may be foregone and the onepreviously received telephonic event may be determined to be the firstimmediately preceding telephonic event.

At step 606A, after determining that a first immediately precedingtelephonic event was received, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may compare the extracted name, telephone number, and username (e.g., handle) from the incoming telephonic event to that of thefirst immediately preceding telephonic event to determine whether or notthe incoming telephonic event and the first immediately precedingtelephonic event share a common sending individual or entity. If it isdetermined that the incoming telephonic event and the first immediatelypreceding telephonic event do not share a common sending individual orentity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determinethat the incoming telephonic event is a first incoming telephonic eventassociated with a particular sending individual or entity. After such adetermination, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maymaintain the soft block and prevent the first incoming telephonic eventfrom being displayed on the mobile device 120 at step 514. Additionally,the incoming telephonic event analysis application may provide anotification to the individual or entity associated with the firstincoming telephonic event that the user is driving and currentlyunavailable to respond to the telephonic event. Furthermore, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may store the telephonicevent data associated with the first telephonic event in memory in thedata ledger associated with the active operative period of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if it is determined that the incoming telephonic event andthe first immediately preceding telephonic event share a common sendingindividual or entity, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay determine that the incoming telephonic event is at least a secondincoming telephonic event associated with the particular sendingindividual or entity and may proceed to step 608A.

At step 608A, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine whether a second immediately preceding telephonic event wasreceived. In doing so, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may review the data ledger in memory to determine if asecond immediately preceding telephonic event was received. If no datacorresponding to a second immediately preceding telephonic event existsin memory (e.g., only data corresponding to the first immediatelypreceding telephonic event exits in memory), the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may determine that the incoming telephonicevent is a second incoming telephonic event associated with theparticular individual or entity and prevent the second incomingtelephonic event from being displayed on the mobile device 120 at step514. Additionally, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay provide a notification to the individual or entity associated withthe second incoming telephonic event alerting the individual or entitythat the user is still driving and unavailable to respond to thetelephonic event, but if that it is an emergency situation, theindividual or entity should provide a third telephonic event to beconnected to the mobile device of the user. Furthermore, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may store the telephonic eventdata associated with the second telephonic event in memory in the dataledger associated with the active operative period of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if two or more previously stored telephonic event dataentries exists in memory in the data ledger, the determination of thesecond immediately preceding telephonic event may be made. In instancesin which a plurality of previously stored telephonic event data entriesexists in the data ledger, the determination of the second immediatelypreceding telephonic event may be made based on a time differencebetween the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event andpreviously stored receipt times corresponding to previously receivedtelephonic events. The difference with the second smallest magnitude maybe determined to be the second immediately preceding telephonic event.

At step 610A, after determining that a second immediately precedingtelephonic event was received, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may compare the extracted name, telephone number, and username (e.g., handle) from the incoming telephonic event to that of thesecond immediately preceding telephonic event to determine whether ornot the incoming telephonic event and the second immediately precedingtelephonic event share a common sending individual or entity. If it isdetermined that the incoming telephonic event and the second immediatelypreceding telephonic event do not share a common sending individual orentity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determinethat the incoming telephonic event is a second incoming telephonic eventassociated with the particular individual or entity and prevent thesecond incoming telephonic event from being displayed on the mobiledevice 120 at step 514. Additionally, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may provide a notification to the individual orentity associated with the second incoming telephonic event alerting theindividual or entity that the user is still driving and unavailable torespond to the telephonic event, but if that it is an emergencysituation, the individual or entity should provide a third telephonicevent to be connected to the mobile device of the user. Furthermore, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may store the telephonicevent data associated with the second telephonic event in memory in thedata ledger associated with the active operative period of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if it is determined that the incoming telephonic event andthe second immediately preceding telephonic event share a common sendingindividual or entity, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay determine that the incoming telephonic event is at least a thirdincoming telephonic event associated with the particular sendingindividual or entity and, at step 516, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may determine whether or not the mobile device 120was synced and/or paired with the hands-free device 116. At step 518, ifthe mobile device 120 was previously synced and/or paired with thehands-free device 116, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may activate the hands-free device 116, remove the softblock, and direct the incoming telephonic event on the mobile device 120to hands-free device 116. Alternatively, at step 520, if the mobiledevice 120 was not previously synced and/or paired with the hands-freedevice 116, the incoming telephonic event analysis application mayremove the soft block and display the incoming telephonic event on themobile device 120.

FIG. 6B is a flow diagram illustrating another example of an incomingtelephonic event data analysis method according to one or more aspectsof the disclosure. At step 602B, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may extract telephonic event data from the incomingtelephonic event. Such data may include a name, telephone number, username (e.g., handle), event type (e.g., telephone call, text message,email, application notification, etc.), and time of receipt.

At step 604B, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine whether previously stored telephonic event data is stored inmemory in the data ledger associated with the active operative period ofvehicle 110. Data corresponding to previously received telephonic eventsmay be previously stored in memory on mobile device 120 by the incomingtelephonic event analysis application. In one instance, the storedpreviously received telephonic event data may correspond to an activeoperative period of vehicle 110, wherein the active operative isinitiated by a positive ignition event (e.g., vehicle 110 is turned on).In such instances, mobile device 120 may be configured to receiveindication of a positive ignition event from sensors 111, telematicsdevice 113, and/or on-board computer 115 and the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may be configured to create a data ledgerwithin memory of mobile device 120 corresponding to the active operativeperiod of vehicle 110. In one instance, the data ledger may be clearedand/or reset responsive to the conclusion of the active operative periodthrough receipt of an indication of a negative ignition event (e.g.,vehicle 110 is turned off). In doing so, memory of mobile device 120 maybe actively conserved as related to the incoming telephonic eventapplication. Alternatively, the data ledger may be achieved responsiveto the conclusion of the active operative period through receipt of anindication of a negative ignition event and may be accessible at a latertime.

However, in some cases, the active operating state of the vehicle 110may be determined by a velocity, acceleration, and/or displacementmagnitude and mobile device 120 may be configured to receive indicationof such a magnitude from sensors 111, telematics device 113, and/oron-board computer 115 and the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may be configured to create a data ledger within memory ofmobile device 120 corresponding to the active operative period ofvehicle 110. Similarly, the termination of an active operating state ofthe vehicle 110 may be determined by a prolonged period (e.g., 1 min, 5min, 10 min, etc.) without a velocity, acceleration, and/or displacementmagnitude.

In some instances, the start of an active operating state of the vehicle110 may be determined by a negative parking brake indication (e.g.,parking brake disengaged), a shift into reverse or drive after aprolonged period (e.g., 5 min, 10 min, 30 min, etc.) of being in park, apositive headlight activation, brake pedal activation, gas pedalactivation, and/or a state change in one or more vehicle systemsrequiring user input. Conversely, the end of an active operating stateof vehicle 110 may be determined by a positive parking brake indication(e.g., parking brake engagement), a shift into park, headlightdeactivation, absence of brake pedal usage, gas pedal usage, and/orstate change in one or more vehicle systems requiring user input.Additionally, such state changes may be time constrained. Similar to thestate changes noted above, mobile device 120 may be configured toreceive indication of such state changes from sensors 111, telematicsdevice 113, and/or on-board computer 115.

If no data corresponding to a previously received telephonic eventexists in memory, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine that the incoming telephonic event is a first incomingtelephonic event. If the incoming telephonic event is determined to be afirst incoming telephonic event, incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may maintain the soft block and prevent the first incomingtelephonic event from being displayed on the mobile device 120 at step514. Additionally, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay provide a notification to the individual or entity associated withthe first incoming telephonic event that the user is driving andcurrently unavailable to respond to the telephonic event. Furthermore,the incoming telephonic event analysis application may store thetelephonic event data associated with the first telephonic event inmemory in the data ledger associated with the active operative period ofvehicle 110.

Conversely, if data corresponding to one or more previously receivedtelephonic events is stored in memory in the data ledger associated withthe active operative period of vehicle 110, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may consolidate the previously storedtelephonic event data based on a retroactive time window, wherein thepreviously stored telephonic event data comprised within theconsolidated window may be marked for further comparison with thetelephonic event data of the incoming telephonic event. The retroactivetime window may be a predetermined period of time (e.g., 1 minute, 5minutes, 30 minutes, etc.) extending into the past from the time atwhich the incoming telephonic event was received at mobile device 120.For example, if previously stored telephonic event data exists in memoryin the data ledger and an incoming telephonic event is received at 3:00PM EST, the retroactive time window may extend into the past until 2:55PM EST. Each telephonic event received between 2:55 PM EST and 3:00 PMEST may be isolated by the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication from the remainder of the previously stored telephonic eventdata received outside of the retroactive time window and marked forfurther comparison.

At step 606B, after isolating previously stored telephonic event datawithin the retroactive time window, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may compare the extracted name, telephone number,and user name (e.g., handle) from the incoming telephonic event to thatof each of the previously stored telephonic event data entries in theconsolidated time window to determine whether or not the incomingtelephonic event and any of the previously stored telephonic event dataentries share a common sending individual or entity. If it is determinedthat the incoming telephonic event and any of the previously storedtelephonic event data entries do not share a common sending individualor entity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maydetermine that the incoming telephonic event is a first incomingtelephonic event associated with a particular sending individual orentity. After such a determination, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may maintain the soft block and prevent the firstincoming telephonic event from being displayed on the mobile device 120at step 514. Additionally, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may provide a notification to the individual or entityassociated with the first incoming telephonic event that the user isdriving and currently unavailable to respond to the telephonic event.Furthermore, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maystore the telephonic event data associated with the first telephonicevent in memory in the data ledger associated with the active operativeperiod of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if it is determined that the incoming telephonic event andat least a first entry of the previously stored telephonic event dataentries in the retroactive window share a common sending individual orentity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determinethat the incoming telephonic event is at least a second incomingtelephonic event associated with the particular individual or entity andmay proceed to step 608B.

At step 608B, the incoming telephonic event analysis application maycompare the extracted name, telephone number, and user name (e.g.,handle) from the incoming telephonic event to that of each of thepreviously stored telephonic event data entries in the consolidated timewindow (besides the first entry sharing the common individual or entitydetermined in step 606B) to determine whether or not the incomingtelephonic event and a second entry of the previously stored telephonicevent data entries share a common sending individual or entity. If it isdetermined that the incoming telephonic event and none of the remainderof the previously stored telephonic event data entries share a commonsending individual or entity, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may determine that the incoming telephonic event is a secondincoming telephonic event associated with a particular sendingindividual or entity. After such a determination, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may maintain the soft block andprevent the second incoming telephonic event from being displayed on themobile device 120 at step 514. Additionally, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may provide a notification to the individualor entity associated with the second incoming telephonic event that theuser is driving and currently unavailable to respond to the telephonicevent. Furthermore, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay store the telephonic event data associated with the secondtelephonic event in memory in the data ledger associated with the activeoperative period of vehicle 110.

Conversely, if it is determined that the incoming telephonic event andat least a second entry of the previously stored telephonic event dataentries in the retroactive window share a common sending individual orentity, the incoming telephonic event analysis application may determinethat the incoming telephonic event is at least a third incomingtelephonic event associated with the particular sending individual orentity and, at step 516, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may determine whether or not the mobile device 120 wassynced and/or paired with the hands-free device 116. At step 518, if themobile device 120 was previously synced and/or paired with thehands-free device 116, the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may activate the hands-free device 116, remove the softblock, and direct the incoming telephonic event on the mobile device 120to hands-free device 116. Alternatively, at step 520, if the mobiledevice 120 was not previously synced and/or paired with the hands-freedevice 116, the incoming telephonic event analysis application mayremove the soft block and display the incoming telephonic event on themobile device 120.

After the active operative period of vehicle 110 has been terminated andan indication of such has been received at mobile device 120, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may display a rollup onthe mobile device 120 of the driver comprising each of the incomingtelephonic events blocked from being displayed on mobile device 120during driving. The rollup may include each of the data entries storedin the data ledger in memory. As such, each of the telephonic eventsreceived during operation of vehicle 110, the type of each of thetelephonic events, the individual or entity associated with the each ofthe telephonic events, an indication of availability of each of theindividuals or entities associated with each of the telephonic events,and the time of receipt of each of the telephonic events. In someinstances, the driver may be able to select each of the telephonicevents comprised in the rollup to respond to the telephonic event in themanner corresponding to the event type (e.g., telephone call, email,text message, application specific interface, etc.). Alternatively, thedriver may be able to select from the totality of telephonic event typesin responding to the received telephonic event.

In some instances, the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationmay be configured to cleared and/or reset the data ledger responsive tothe conclusion of the active operative period through receipt of a statechange event from sensors 111, telematics device 113, and/or on-boardcomputer 115. In doing so, memory of mobile device 120 may be activelyconserved as related to the incoming telephonic event application.Alternatively, the data ledger may be achieved responsive to theconclusion of the active operative period through receipt of anindication of a negative ignition event and may be accessible at a latertime.

In examples in which the analysis of the incoming telephonic event isperformed by on-board computer 115 and/or incoming telephonic eventanalysis system 140, mobile device 120 may transmit incoming telephonicevent data to on-board computer 115 and/or incoming telephonic eventanalysis system 140. Such data may include the individual or entityassociated with incoming telephonic event, time of receipt of theincoming telephonic event, and the type of the incoming telephonicevent. Upon receipt of the incoming telephonic event data, on-boardcomputer 115 and incoming telephonic event analysis system 140, alone orin combination, may be able to perform the determination featuresoutlined above in steps 508, 510, and 512 (e.g., FIGS. 6A and 6B).Responsive to performing the respective determination steps, on-boardcomputer 115 and incoming telephonic event analysis system 140, eitheralone or in combination, may be configured to transmit the results ofsuch steps to mobile device 120.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of an incomingtelephonic event analysis method based on the presence of a hands-freedevice according to one or more aspects of the disclosure. As will bedescribed below, the processes of the incoming telephonic event analysismethod may be performed by any one, or combination of, mobile device120, on-board computer 115, and incoming telephonic event analysissystem 140.

At step 702, the mobile device 120 may receive an incoming telephonicevent analysis application activation command from on-board computer115, which may send the activation command in response to receiving apositive vehicle ignition event (e.g., turning vehicle on) and/or anyone, or combination of, state change events described above. Responsiveto receiving the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationactivation command, mobile device 120 may activate the incomingtelephonic event analysis application.

At step 704, after the incoming telephonic event analysis applicationhas been activated on mobile device 120 responsive to the command sentfrom vehicle on-board computer 115, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may cause the mobile device 120 to scan for thepresence of a hands-free device 116 in the proximity of mobile device120. In the event that a hands-free device 116 is registered during thescan conducted by mobile device 120, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may instruct the mobile device 120 to sync and/orpair with the hands-free device 116. Alternatively, if a hands-freedevice 116 is not registered during the scan, no instruction to syncand/or pair may be given to mobile device

At step 706, the mobile device 120 associated with the driver of vehicle110 may receive an incoming telephonic event during the operation ofvehicle 110. The incoming telephonic event may be of any of a pluralityof telephonic event types. Upon receipt of the incoming telephonicevent, an incoming telephonic event analysis application operating onmobile device 120 may apply a soft block to the incoming telephonicevent preventing the event from being displayed on the mobile device120.

At step 708, the mobile device 120 may transmit a data transmittalcontrol command to telematics device 113. The data transmittal controlcommand may be configured to activate telematics device 113 and mayfurther include instructions for the telematics device 120 to transmitspecific data elements of the vehicle operational data and environmentalconditions data to incoming telephonic event analysis system 140corresponding to the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event.The specific data elements within the broader categories of vehicleoperational data and environmental conditions data may coincide withdata elements required by driver score/risk map server 170 to performthe calculations of the driver risk score and road risk score.Alternatively, the data transmittal control command may includeinstructions for telematics device 113 to transmit the specific dataelements to mobile device 120. In such instances, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application on mobile device 120 may beconfigured to perform the driver risk score and road risk scorecalculations described below in regards to driver score/risk map server170.

In response to receiving the specific data elements of the vehicleoperational data and environmental conditions data from telematicsdevice 113, incoming telephonic event analysis system 140 may route thedata to driver score/risk map server 170. The driver score/risk mapserver 170 may use the data in conjunction with historical data storedin driver score/risk map database 174 and auxiliary environmentalconditions data provided by third party data source server 160 toperform the driver risk score and road risk score calculations. Afterperforming the calculations, driver score/risk map server 170 maytransmit the calculated driver risk score and road risk score to mobiledevice 120, which may be configured to receive the calculated driverrisk score and road risk score at step 710.

At step 712, upon receiving the calculated driver risk score and roadrisk score from driver score/risk map server 170, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application on mobile device 120 may determinewhether or not to remove or to maintain the soft block applied to theincoming telephonic event. In doing so, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may compare both the driver risk score and the roadrisk score to allowance thresholds respective to the driver risk scoreand the road risk score. At step 716, if both of the driver score andthe road risk score are below the respective allowance thresholds, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may then determinewhether or not the mobile device 120 was synced and/or paired with thehands-free device 116. At step 518, if the mobile device 120 waspreviously synced and/or paired with the hands-free device 116, theincoming telephonic event analysis application may activate thehands-free device 116, remove the soft block, and direct the incomingtelephonic event on the mobile device 120 to hands-free device 116.Alternatively, at step 720, if the mobile device 120 was not previouslysynced and/or paired with the hands-free device 116 because nohands-free device 116 was initially detected, the incoming telephonicevent analysis application may remove the soft block and display theincoming telephonic event on the mobile device 120. Conversely, at step714, if either of the driver risk score or the road risk score is abovethe respective allowance threshold, the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application may maintain the soft block and prevent theincoming telephonic event from being displayed on the mobile device 120regardless of whether or not the mobile device 120 was synced and/orpaired with hands-free device 116.

In some instances, after driving has been completed and vehicle 110 isturned off, vehicle control computer 115 may deactivate the incomingtelephonic event analysis application on mobile device 120. Byactivating and deactivating the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication in response to a vehicle ignition event (e.g., turningvehicle on or off), the battery and processing power of mobile device120 may be conserved by ensuring that the utilization of the incomingtelephonic event analysis application coincides with periods ofoperation of vehicle 110. Additionally, the usage of the vehicleignition event to trigger the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication may restrict the operation of the application to periods ofdriving and prevent operation carry over between periods of driving andperiods of non-driving.

In some instances, when the soft block is removed by the incomingtelephonic event analysis application and the incoming telephonic eventis displayed on mobile device 120, the driver associated with mobiledevice 120 may be awarded points for not interacting with the mobiledevice 120 in response to the displayed telephonic event. Such pointsmay be used by the driver associated with mobile device 120 toincrementally increase the predetermined vehicle velocity thresholdand/or add additional individuals or entities to the allowableindividual or entity list. For example, for every incoming telephonicevent displayed on mobile device 120 that is not interacted with by thedriver of vehicle 110, one point may be awarded to the driver. After 100points have been awarded, the driver may be able to increase thevelocity threshold by 0.1 mph. Alternatively, after 1000 points havebeen awarded, the driver may be able to add an additional individual orentity to the allowable individual or entity list. In some instances,the driver may receive electronic badges after surpassing certain pointthresholds (e.g., 100 points, 500 points, etc.).

After operation of vehicle 110 has been terminated, the incomingtelephonic event analysis application may provide the driver associatedwith mobile device 110 with a rollup comprising each of the incomingtelephonic events blocked from being displayed on mobile device 120during driving. The rollup may include each of the telephonic eventsreceived during operation of vehicle 110, the type of each of thetelephonic events, the individual or entity associated with the each ofthe telephonic events, an indication of availability of each of theindividuals or entities associated with each of the telephonic events,and the time of receipt of each of the telephonic events. In someinstances, the driver may be able to select each of the telephonicevents comprised in the rollup to respond to the telephonic event in themanner corresponding to the event type (e.g., telephone call, email,text message, application specific interface, etc.). Alternatively, thedriver may be able to select from the totality of telephonic event typesin responding to the received telephonic event.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device 801 in anauto-reply and hands-free system 600 that may be used according to oneor more illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. The computing device801 may have a processor 803 for controlling overall operation of thecomputing device 801 and its associated components, including RAM 805,ROM 807, input/output module 809, and memory unit 815. The computingdevice 801, along with one or more additional devices (e.g., terminals841, 851) may correspond to any of multiple systems or devices, such asauto-reply and hands-free systems, configured as described herein foranalyzing an incoming telephonic event in relation to a combination ofvehicle operational data, user preferences, and hands-free deviceactivation to determine if the incoming telephonic event is to beallowed to be received during vehicle operation.

Input/Output (I/O) module 809 may include a microphone, keypad, touchscreen, and/or stylus through which a user of the computing device 801may provide input, and may also include one or more of a speaker forproviding audio input/output and a video display device for providingtextual, audiovisual and/or graphical output. Software may be storedwithin memory unit 815 and/or other storage to provide instructions toprocessor 803 for enabling device 801 to perform various functions. Forexample, memory unit 815 may store software used by the device 801, suchas an operating system 817, application programs 819, and an associatedinternal database 821. The memory unit 815 includes one or more ofvolatile and/or non-volatile computer memory to storecomputer-executable instructions, data, and/or other information.Processor 803 and its associated components may allow the computingdevice 801 to execute a series of computer-readable instructions toperform the methods described in FIGS. 2-7.

The computing device 801 may operate in a networked environment 800supporting connections to one or more remote computers, such asterminals/devices 841 and 851. Computing device 801, and relatedterminals/devices 841 and 851, may include devices installed invehicles, mobile devices that may travel within vehicles, or devicesoutside of vehicles that are configured to receive and process vehicleand other sensor data. Thus, the computing device 801 andterminals/devices 841 and 851 may each include personal computers (e.g.,laptop, desktop, or tablet computers), servers (e.g., web servers,database servers), vehicle-based devices (e.g., on-board vehiclecomputers, short-range vehicle communication systems, sensors andtelematics devices), or mobile communication devices (e.g., mobilephones, portable computing devices, and the like), and may include someor all of the elements described above with respect to the computingdevice 801. The network connections depicted in FIG. 8 include a localarea network (LAN) 825 and a wide area network (WAN) 829, and a wirelesstelecommunications network 833, but may also include other networks.When used in a LAN networking environment, the computing device 801 maybe connected to the LAN 825 through a network interface or adapter 823.When used in a WAN networking environment, the device 801 may include amodem 827 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN829, such as network 831 (e.g., the Internet). When used in a wirelesstelecommunications network 833, the device 801 may include one or moretransceivers, digital signal processors, and additional circuitry andsoftware for communicating with wireless computing devices 841 (e.g.,mobile phones, short-range vehicle communication systems, vehiclesensing and telematics devices) via one or more network devices 835(e.g., base transceiver stations) in the wireless network 833.

It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areillustrative and other means of establishing a communications linkbetween the computers may be used. The existence of any of variousnetwork protocols such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP and the like, andof various wireless communication technologies such as GSM, CDMA, Wi-Fi,and WiMAX, is presumed, and the various computing devices and auto-replyand hands-free components described herein may be configured tocommunicate using any of these network protocols or technologies.

Additionally, one or more application programs 819 used by the computingdevice 801 may include computer executable instructions for receivingdata and performing other related functions as described herein.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the various aspectsdescribed herein may be embodied as a method, a computer system, or acomputer program product. Accordingly, those aspects may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment oran embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, suchaspects may take the form of a computer program product stored by one ormore computer-readable storage media having computer-readable programcode, or instructions, embodied in or on the storage media. Any suitablecomputer readable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks,CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or anycombination thereof. In addition, various signals representing data orevents as described herein may be transferred between a source and adestination in the form of electromagnetic waves traveling throughsignal-conducting media such as metal wires, optical fibers, and/orwireless transmission media (e.g., air and/or space).

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a mobiledevice, an incoming telephonic event analysis application activationcommand from an on-board computer of a vehicle; activating an incomingtelephonic event analysis application responsive to the incomingtelephonic event analysis application activation command from theon-board computer of the vehicle; instructing the mobile device to pairwith a hands-free device by the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication operating on the mobile device, wherein the mobile device isassociated with a driver of the vehicle; receiving an incomingtelephonic event at the mobile device; applying a soft block to theincoming telephonic event by the incoming telephonic event analysisapplication based on an active operative state of the vehicle;determining, by the incoming telephonic event analysis application,whether a velocity of the vehicle at a time of receipt of the incomingtelephonic event is less than a predetermined velocity threshold;determining, by the incoming telephonic event analysis application,whether the incoming telephonic event is associated with an allowableindividual or entity; determining, by the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application, whether the incoming telephonic event is a first,second, or third incoming telephonic event; and based on at least one ofthe velocity of the vehicle at the time of receipt of the incomingtelephonic event being less than the predetermined velocity threshold,the incoming telephonic event being associated with the allowableindividual or entity, and the incoming telephonic event being the thirdincoming telephonic event, removing the soft block on the incomingtelephonic event by the incoming telephonic event analysis application;in response to removing the soft block on the incoming telephonic event,activating the hands-free device paired with the mobile device; andtransmitting the incoming telephonic event to the activated hands-freedevice.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether thevelocity of the vehicle at the time of receipt of the incomingtelephonic event is less than the predetermined velocity thresholdincludes: requesting vehicle velocity data corresponding to the time ofreceipt of the incoming telephonic from one or more of a vehicle sensor,GPS device, telematics device, on-board computer, and incomingtelephonic event analysis system; receiving the requested vehiclevelocity data corresponding to the time of receipt of the incomingtelephonic from one or more of the vehicle sensor, GPS device,telematics device, on-board computer, and incoming telephonic eventanalysis system; and comparing the received vehicle velocity datacorresponding to the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic to thepredetermined velocity threshold.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, at the mobile device, an incoming telephonicevent analysis application deactivation command from the on-boardcomputer of the vehicle; and deactivating the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application responsive to the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application deactivation command from the on-board computer ofthe vehicle.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the incoming telephonicevent analysis application activation command is associated with apositive vehicle ignition event of the vehicle and wherein the incomingtelephonic event analysis application deactivation command is associatedwith a negative vehicle ignition event of the vehicle.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: responsive to removing the soft block onthe incoming telephonic event, displaying the incoming telephonic eventon the mobile device; and allowing the driver to respond to the incomingtelephonic event.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein allowing the driverto respond to the incoming telephonic event includes: allowing thedriver to respond to the incoming telephonic event for a predeterminedperiod of time; and providing the driver with countdown updatescorresponding to a termination of the predetermined period of time. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the hands-free device is one of ahands-free headphone, headset, and in-ear device.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein the active operative state of the vehicle corresponds to astate in which an engine of the vehicle is turned on.
 9. An apparatuscomprising: a processor; and memory storing computer readableinstructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatusto: receive an incoming telephonic event analysis application activationcommand from an on-board computer of a vehicle; activate and incomingtelephonic event analysis application responsive to the incomingtelephonic event analysis application activation command from theon-board computer of the vehicle; pair the apparatus with a hands-freedevice by the incoming telephonic event analysis application operatingon the apparatus, wherein the apparatus is associated with a driver ofthe vehicle; receive an incoming telephonic event at the apparatus;apply a soft block to the incoming telephonic event by the incomingtelephonic event analysis application operating on the apparatus basedon an active operative state of the vehicle; determine, by the incomingtelephonic event analysis application, whether a velocity of the vehicleat a time of receipt of the incoming telephonic event is less than apredetermined velocity threshold; determine, by the incoming telephonicevent analysis application, whether the incoming telephonic event isassociated with an allowable individual or entity; determine, by theincoming telephonic event analysis application, whether the incomingtelephonic event is a first, second, or third incoming telephonic event;and based on at least one of the velocity of the vehicle at the time ofreceipt of the incoming telephonic event being less than thepredetermined velocity threshold, the incoming telephonic event beingassociated with the allowable individual or entity, and the incomingtelephonic event being the third incoming telephonic event, remove thesoft block on the incoming telephonic event by the incoming telephonicevent analysis application; in response to removing the soft block onthe incoming telephonic event, activate the hands-free device pairedwith the apparatus; and transmit the incoming telephonic event to theactivated hands-free device.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein thememory stores further computer readable instructions that, when executedby the processor, cause the apparatus to: request vehicle velocity datacorresponding to the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic from oneor more of a vehicle sensor, GPS device, telematics device, on-boardcomputer, and incoming telephonic event analysis system; receive therequested vehicle velocity data corresponding to the time of receipt ofthe incoming telephonic from one or more of the vehicle sensor, GPSdevice, telematics device, on-board computer, and incoming telephonicevent analysis system; and compare the received vehicle velocity datacorresponding to the time of receipt of the incoming telephonic to thepredetermined velocity threshold.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9, whereinthe memory stores further computer readable instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the apparatus to: receive an incomingtelephonic event analysis application deactivation command from theon-board computer of the vehicle; and deactivate the incoming telephonicevent analysis application responsive to the incoming telephonic eventanalysis application deactivation command from the on-board computer ofthe vehicle.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the incomingtelephonic event analysis application activation command is associatedwith a positive vehicle ignition event of the vehicle and wherein theincoming telephonic event analysis application deactivation command isassociated with a negative vehicle ignition event of the vehicle. 13.The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the memory stores further computerreadable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause theapparatus to: responsive to removing the soft block on the incomingtelephonic event, display the incoming telephonic event on theapparatus; and allow the driver to respond to the incoming telephonicevent.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the memory stores furthercomputer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor,cause the apparatus to: allow the driver to respond to the incomingtelephonic event for a predetermined period of time; and provide thedriver with countdown updates corresponding to a termination of thepredetermined period of time.
 15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein thehands-free device is one of a hands-free headphone, headset, and in-eardevice.